Acknowledging the perfect joy of suffering in Christ, but having a little fun along the way.

Mardi Gras!

I admit: I love Mardi Gras! Oh, not that bourbon-soaked, hedonistic Spring Break thing, but the actual Catholic celebration of Mardi Gras.

Just for fun, I thought I'd post a few things over the next week regarding Mardi Gras and its celebration.

Today, from The History Channel:

According to historians, Mardi Gras dates back thousands of years to
pagan celebrations of spring and fertility, including the raucous Roman
festivals of Saturnalia and Lupercalia. When Christianity arrived in
Rome, religious leaders decided to incorporate these popular local
traditions into the new faith, an easier task than abolishing them
altogether. As a result, the excess and debauchery of the Mardi Gras
season became a prelude to Lent, the 40 days of penance between Ash
Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Along
with Christianity, Mardi Gras spread from Rome to other European
countries, including France, Germany, Spain and England.
Traditionally, in the days leading up to Lent, merrymakers would
binge on all the meat, eggs, milk and cheese that remained in their
homes, preparing for several weeks of eating only fish and fasting. In
France, the day before Ash Wednesday came to be known as Mardi Gras, or
"Fat Tuesday." The word "carnival," another common name for the
pre-Lenten festivities, may also derive from this vegetarian-unfriendly
custom: in Medieval Latin, carnelevarium means to take away or remove meat.

Mardi Gras in the United States

Many
historians believe that the first American Mardi Gras took place on
March 3, 1699, when the French explorers Iberville and Bienville landed
in what is now Louisiana, just south of the holiday's future epicenter: New Orleans.
They held a small celebration and dubbed the spot Point du Mardi Gras.
In the decades that followed, New Orleans and other French settlements
began marking the holiday with street parties, masked balls and lavish
dinners. When the Spanish took control of New Orleans, however, they
abolished these rowdy rituals, and the bans remained in force until Louisiana became a U.S. state in 1812.
On Mardi Gras in 1827, a group of students donned colorful costumes
and danced through the streets of New Orleans, emulating the revelry
they'd observed while visiting Paris. Ten years later, the first
recorded New Orleans Mardi Gras parade took place, a tradition that
continues to this day. In 1857, a secret society of New Orleans
businessmen called the Mistick Krewe of Comus organized a torch-lit
Mardi Gras procession with marching bands and rolling floats, setting
the tone for future public celebrations in the city. Since then, krewes
have remained a fixture of the Carnival scene throughout Louisiana.
Other lasting customs include throwing beads and other trinkets, wearing
masks, decorating floats and eating King Cake.
Louisiana is the only state in which Mardi Gras is a legal holiday.
However, elaborate carnival festivities draw crowds in other parts of
the United States during the Mardi Gras season as well, including Alabama and Mississippi. Each region has its own events and traditions.